Tag Archives: childhood

JENNIFER L FREED: After the Summer Storm

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Earthworms emerge, seeking air.
They are there in the driveway, stranded
on the steaming asphalt,
where my two small daughters find them.

They squat close to look, then
rescue: gently lifting slimy strands
of pink and brown,
they lay them down in sunburned grass.

I watch, then kneel
to help.

Jennifer L Freed is author of When Light Shifts, a memoir-in-poems about the aftermath of her mother’s cerebral hemorrhage. Her daughters have grown up, but she still remembers the day they rescued earthworms. Please visit jfreed.weebly.com to learn more.

RACHEL HAPANOWICZ: The Case of Upside-Down Carassius Auratus

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , , ,

My mother keeps secretly replacing my little sister’s dead goldfish.

My newly adopted sister keeps randomly telling strangers at the store, “My mommy died!” and “I’m going to the beach!” My mother–our mother–nods, tired.

Two things can be true: There is a dead goldfish. There is a replacement.

Rachel Hapanowicz is currently a teacher in Cincinnati public schools where she is an expert at making cool lingo very uncool to her students, being from Ohio, and finding the best karaoke spots in town.

JOANNA NORLAND: Born Lucky

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

“Mummy, I want a baby sister.”

“Then every Sunday morning, creep into the garden,” she says. “Hunt for lucky four leaf clovers ’til Daddy calls out, ‘Pancakes!'”

I hunt and hunt. Never find even one.

But just before Christmas, baby Felicity arrives.

And all because of my hunting, Mummy says.

Joanna Norland is a writing coach, playwright and mother of two. Which leaves her just enough time to scribble fifty fictional words a month. See more at mumswrite.com.

KAYLA LANG: Starlight Waltz

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Twinkling stars, somersaulting in white pyjamas. Soft grass landings, innocent giggles. Treacherous pirates, circumventing the world. Cardboard ships, constellation navigation. Young hearts ablaze under starlit decrees.

Now we sip red wine in the cool air, two miniature stars dancing in our back garden. Time turns, and the romance begins anew.

Kayla Lang is a small town Malaysian displaced in London.

DEL GRIFFITH: A Requiem for Old Dreams

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

In my dreams, I could fly. A little boy, ignoring the science of gravity.

Somewhere along the way, those dreams disappear.

“Another beer?” My wife scolds.

“Hard day at work,” I reply.

She huffs and goes to bed without me, as usual. I drink more beer.

She doesn’t understand flying.

Del Griffith is a retired math teacher who reads and writes extensively and travels the state, looking for great barbecue and swapping tall tales with all the old men.

JERRY WELLER: Flying

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

A swing set anchored in the backyard sings as grandpa pushes little Cordelia.

“Higher!” she pleads.

“Your toes already touch the sky!” grandpa cheers.

“I want to fly like birds!” she thrills.

Cordelia’s mother arrives with lemonade, chiding, “Please settle down!”

Cordelia leaps, always will, leaving anchored things far below.

Jerry Weller is a long-time writer and teacher who lives with his wife, cats, and dogs, in the countryside north of Lake Ontario, Canada.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Posy

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

Scratchy – Stinky – she dances around Nana’s sunshiny garden, skipping along sweet-smelling flowerbeds, renaming plants – Shivery – Sickly – confident because Nana’s here and laughing, changing names shared with the vanished girls (Rose – Daisy – Poppy – Lily) who whisper and tap on her window every night.

Nobody heeds childish imagination. Until she vanishes, too.

Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

AISHA YANSANE: The Chemistry Test

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

“You may begin… now,” the teacher said.

My mind focuses on blood types not elements. O+. B-. Incompatible. Kidneys had to match. The doctor said we’d have to act quickly if a donor emerged. I hoped it’d be an old one.

“Time’s up! Pencils down.”

I hadn’t even begun yet.

Aisha Yansane is 9th grade student from Philadelphia. This is the beginning of her creative writing journey. Find her on Instagram at @amourraisha.

BONNIE MEEKUMS: Mum says I’ll grow out of climbing trees but I know

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

My mother’s rough hands fold turn-ups on my jeans, pins clamped between her teeth. I bind my feet to the floor, desperate to climb trees. Mum likes jeans – they’re easier, she says, than peeling off and washing muddy dresses. As she stands, scissors held low, the door swings behind me.

Bonnie is a British writer whose flash fiction has appeared in several literary magazines including most recently Ellipsis Zine and Tiny Molecules. She shares a house in Greater Manchester, UK, with an unpredictable number of humans; grows disobedient vegetables; and walks in the hills near home. Bonnie also travels alarming distances to see loved ones in Aotearoa/New Zealand. See more at bonniemeekums.weebly.com

FIONA H EVANS: Monkey Magic

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

“Which one of you kids drank all the milk?” your mother screams.

Children scatter like flies from the dead echidna you found by the road. You hope she doesn’t look up. If this gumtree was tall enough to touch the sky, you could mount a passing cloud and fly away.

Fiona H Evans is a ballerina who dances on dictionaries. She lives in Perth, Western Australia, on Noongar Boodja with a dog, a cat and a few bantams.